25 

y 1 



Oration 



Delivered by 

HARRY R. GEARHART 

If 

Grand Orator 

at the 

ANNUAL COMMUNICATION 
of the 

Grand Lodge, A.\ F/. & A/. M. 



of 



Minnesota 



JANUARY 16th. 1918. 






ORATION 



JDelivered by rlarry R. Oearhart, Grand Orator, at the Annual 
Commvxmcation of tlie Grand Lodge A. F. ^ A. M., of Minnesota 
January, 16tK 1918. 

Most Worshipful Grand Master, Right Worshipful Grand Officers 
and Brothers of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota: 

I have not had the pleasure of attending this Grand Lodge for 
many years — not since I was previously a member as an officer ol 
my own Lodge in Duluth, Palestine Lodge No. 79. 

At my last appearance here, in 1903, I was most agreeably in- 
conspicuous. At this time, however, standing before you as your 
Grand Orator, I feel most embarrassingly conspicuous. For no 
one whom our Most Worshipful Grand Master could have ap- 
pointed to this office, could have had fewer qualifications as an 
orator than I. Yet, so highly do I appreciate the personal honor of 
being a member and an officer of this Grand body, and so grateful 
am I for the recognition given my own Lodge through the appoint- 
ment, that but one course was open to me, — and that was to, with 
pride and thanks, accept the honor and then perform the duties or 
the office to the best of my ability. 

Because of the long period whi^h has elapsed since my last 
presence in this Grand body, I do not know the subjects which have 
been taken by my predecessors in their formal addresses to the 
Grand Lodge. So, in that which I shall say to you, it may be that 
I v/ill repeat some of the thoughts which you have here heard 
expressed before. 

But, in the main, the principles of Masonry are few, and, in 
speaking of or applying them^ repetition cannot be well avoided. 
Again, the principles of Masonry, as applied to his greatest war 
of all ages, now in progress, have doubtless been, either conscious- 
ly or unconsciously, all-absorbing thoughts in the minds of most of 
us. They have been in my mind, and I cannot help making them 
the theme of this address; yet, because of the fact that we are all 



thinking of them, it may be that I can suggest nothing which is not 
already as clear in your minds as it will be when I have finished. 

First of all we must and do recognize the fa^t that the prin- 
ciples of Masonry are principles of w^hich we Masons have no 
monopoly. Our illustrious predecessors, whoever they may have 
been, being men of intelligence and the highest of ideals, sifted and 
sorted the right and the good from the commonplace, the wrong 
and the bad, and said "We, as an organization of friends and broth- 
ers, will adopt as our standard that which is right and good, and 
will condemn that which is commonplace, wrong and bad." The 
right and good existed from the beginning of all things. :viasonry 
simply emphasizes the principles of right and good, teaches its 
disciples to recognize and follow such principles, and, through the 
for^e exerted by its numbers, impresses such principles upon 
society, or the world. 

As Masonry is made up of individuals, political and economi- 
cal bodies, such as nations and government, cannot be subject to 
the direct influence of Masonic teachings, and can only be reached 
indirectly and through the people of the political or economical 
hody, or those who may shape its policy. 

In the infancy of Masonic influence, practically ever>' govern 
ment in the world was an autocracy. Some one individual, or some 
number of individuals had, by his or their might of mind or body, 
assumed or been conceded the right to govern, and to make rules 
called laws for the guidance and control of the people. The ruler 
was an autocrat — a despot; what was to be considered as right was 
determined by his will, influenced by passion, prejudice or any 
other emotion, good or bad. 

Right and wrong were then, in a large way, the same as now. 
But the mental attitude of the peoples of the world was such that 
they permitted themselves to be governed in such manner. 

Masonic influence was then in its infancy. The principles in- 
volved in the three great duties which we, as Masons, are charged 
to inculcate, — ^to G-od, to our neighbors and to ourselves, then ex- 
isted; but, because governments were purely selfish and made sel- 
fishness an example for their subjects, these principles were ignored 
by the great majority. From the most distant ages of the past 
individuals taught, when permitted to teach, and in their own way, 
the lesson which we are taught by the common gavel, the trowel, 
the plumb, square and compass. Individuals taught the advantages 
of brotherly, love, truth, temperance, fortitude, prudence and. last 
but not least, justice. 

Individuals taught the principles of honesty and fair dealing, 
not only as between man and man, but also upon the part of those 



in positions of authority, and the almost divine right of peoples to 
govern themselves. 

Such individuals may or may not have been Rosicrucians, 
Cabalists, Hermetics or members of any particular school of philo- 
sophy which was afterwards evolved into what we now know as 
Speculative Masonry; yet they were, nevertheless, teaching the 
principles of Speculative Masonry. 

In the course of many centuries, those individuals preaching 
these principles necessarily made some progress — yet, until about 
the 17th century, there was but the slightest reflection of the in- 
fluence of such teaching to be found in the systems of government 
by which the various peoples of the world were ruled. .The reason 
was, doubtless, that these individuals were working and teaching 
with but the force which could be exerted by the individual. Each 
one could speak for himself, but, though he were ever so forceful. 
his influence was limited to what he and his few converts alone 
might do. And, with the exception of One whom we all revere, the 
efforts of none were of great effect in shaping the destinies of peo- 
ples. Tyrants still continued to exercise imperial authority over 
their subjects. From long before the days of 'C3nnis to those of 
Cromwell and even later, there was little real change in the 
actual system of government. Political, religious and civil liberty 
were practically unknown and even undreamed of exceptln.g by 
isolated individuals whose powers of expression were usua^.y ab- 
ruptly terminated by someone in authority. 

These forms of government by which the world was for so 
long ruled, whether we call them autocracies or monarchies, early 
gave birth to the theory of the divine right of kings — the theory 
that the ruler was the ruler by divine right — and to such sayir-gs 
as "The King can do no wrong", "Might is Right", and that famous 
truism of that King of France, "The State; I am the State." 

Plato, that old Greek philosopher, in his "The Republic", cynical- 
ly yet truly for his time and for many centuries thereafter, main 
tained that political governments existed for the benefit of the 
governors and not for the benefit of the governed, and makes his 
character, Thrasymachus, say "Might is right; justice is in the 
interest of the stronger." 

Prior to the middle of the 17th century the government of 
autocrats which existed throughout the world had received but one 
substantial check. In the year 1215 there was wrung from King 
John, of England, that great document, the Magna Charta, or Great 
Charter, by which certain rights were secured to the people, free 
from the autocratic power of the ruler. The rights secured were, 
comparatively, but few. and some were inconsequential. But be- 
cause it was a first step toward an abridgement of autocratic rule. 



it was a real step of magnitude in the marcli of tlie people toward 
government of, by and for the people. 

Every schoolboy is taught and we all remember various dates 
which mark great steps in the progress from a world of autocracies 
to that goal of ever>' liberty loving people, a world of democracies. 

There is the year 1215, marking the grant of the Magna Charta. 

There is the date of the Declaration of the Independence of our 
own beloved country, July 4th, 1T76. 

There is the date of that proclamation by which our great 
President Lincoln gave freedom to the slaves, the Emancipation 
Proclamation, January 1st, 1S63. 

There is the date of the birtii of the present French Republic, 
1870. 

There is the year 1913. when China took its place among the 
republics of th-e world. 

The year 1917 we all hope may go down in historv' as the year 
of the end of autocratic rule in Russia. 

The dates, marking steps in the triumphant onward march of 
democracy, as distinguished from autocracy, are familiar to every- 
one. 

But there is one period which, unfortunately, cannot be dis- 
tinguished by a definite or positive date, marking the greatest sin- 
gle step toward democracy which the world has ever known, of 
which the general public knows and hears but little. Could the step 
be attached to a definite date, the world might know more of it. But 
we ]\Iasons, who should and do know the most of it, have positive 
information as to no definite date and know but the period of the 
great step. 

I refer to the birth of Speculative Masonry. 

In ancient times we Masons existed as Lodges of actual work- 
men — operative Masons, practicing the principles and following to 
some extent, as is shown by the old charges, the doctrines we now 
teach, though probably only in an incidental way, for we were 
primarily concerned in the proper application of the useful i-ules 
of architecture. But at some time prior to 1717, our ancient, opera- 
tive brethren admitted to their ranks, as members of their order, in- 
dividuals who were not operative or actual builders. 

Our history previous to the year 1717 is cloudy; dates cannot 
be definitely fixed; records were either not kept or were destroyed. 
Just how long before 1717 men were admitted to Lodges of Free- 
masons who had no connection with the builder's trade or profes- 
sion, we do not know. But we do know that in the preceding cen- 
tury, many, among those whose names are familiar to us being Ash- 
mole and Mainwaring. both scientists and philosophers, and not at 
all eligible as builders, were admitted to membership. The pres- 



ence of these non-operative Masons had an effect upon the work- 
ings of Lodges of Freemasons, and that they crystallized in such 
Lodges the principles of Speculative Masonry long prior to 1717 
cannot be doubted, for that year found these non-operative mem- 
bers in control of the situation, and from that time on Masonry 
has been as we know it — primarily teaching and inculcating those 
principles which are so familiar to us today. 

Whether the birth of Speculative Masonry is placed in the 
year 1717 or at some time prior thereto, I say that its birth marks 
one of the greatest, if not the greatest, single step toward a world 
of democracies. 

Think of the countless ages previous to the birth of Specula- 
tive :\Iasonry, during which time autocratic rule was universal, and 
the influence against autocracy was wielded by so few people. 
From the very birth of the human race up to the 18th century, the 
world had been ruled by might, and the principles of which we are 
reminded by the square, the compass and our other working tools, 
had played but incidental parts in matters of government. 

But taking the year 1717 as the earliest starting point of 
Speculative Masonry, and the time from which we Masons were 
bound to practice and teach the beliefs which we now hold, ob- 
serve the changes which have since transpired in the method of 
governing. 

While a republican form of government had been established 
in Great Britian in 1649 under Cromwell, the greatest single step 
taken by any body politic toward a democratic form of government, 
was that taken by our forefathers in 1776. when they signed a 
declaration of their independence from- Great Britian, and when 
later they adopted that Constitution which became and has since 
been the very foundation of our government. 

There is no question' but that the Constitution of the United 
States and the success of our form of government has been largely 
instrumental in influencing other peoples to adopt the same or a 
similar form of government. 

France first endeavored to throw off the yoke of t>Tanny in 
1792. and was only partially successful for but a short time, re- 
turning to monarchial inile which it finally overthrew in 1870. since 
which time it has been a true republic. 

The autocratic rule of the King of Italy was, in 1848, by a de- 
termined effort upon the part of the people, abridged by a consti- 
tution, and he has since been but the executive head of the nation, 
the real governing power being vested in the people through two 
legislative bodies. In the same country the autocratic power of 
the Roman Church in matters of state, was legislated out if exist- 
ence in 1861, though it retained some semblance of temporal power 



until 1S70, since which time the people have jealously guarded 
their civil rights from interference by the Church, 

The various countries in our southern hemisphere, after years 
of persecutions at the hands of selfish European monarchs who 
truly exemplified the theory that political governments existed only 
for the benefit of the governors, beginning early in the 19th century, 
one by one established liberal forms of government. 

The political futures of China and Russia are as yet uncertain; 
but the fact that each has proclaimed and is struggling to establish 
a republican form of government is sufficient to illustrate the fact 
I have in mind. And that fact is this — That these numerous and 
tremendous changes and efforts toward changes in the form of 
governments, from autocraties to democracies, have taken place 
sinc'e Sepculative Masonry came into being. 

At first we were naturally few in numbers. But our growth 
has been most marvellous. The voices of the few who, as indi- 
viduals, so ineffectively preached and tried to teach the ideals of 
truth, justice, equality and liberty in past ages, have, since the birth 
and growth of Speculative Masonry, become the voice of a host 
teaching and working for those same ideals. 

We can only roughly estimate our numbers at present. The 
Masons in the world may number approximately 2,500,000 and we 
have even less of an idea as to our total numbers at any time in 
the past. But we do know that wherever our Lodges have existed, 
there has been a body of men — ^men of an intelligence above the 
average and among the leaders in their communities, whose efforts 
have been directed toward the spread of the spirit of truth, justice 
and liberty. 

Our a.rguments may be no more substantial and our beliefs no 
more conscientious than those of the old individual worker or the 
old individual philosopher and seeker after the truth; but any ar- 
gument or belief which is urged, acted and lived by its hundreds 
of thousands all over the world, is bound to be most effective. 

We are sending to the European battle front hundreds of thou- 
sands, possibly millions of men, with the idea that, through the 
force of their numbers, they can cause an effect which could not 
possibly be produced by a less number. So with Masonry; its prin- 
ciples are urged with the combined force of all its members — a 
force which should be tremendous. And therefore, considering the 
principles in which we Speculative Masons believe and for which we 
labor and have always labored, I say that the birth of Speculative 
Masonry, as the beginning of the particular force urging Masonic 
principles, doctrines and ideals, is the period marking the greatest 
single step toward a world of democracies. 

It will be noted that, in mentioning the countries of the civ- 



ilized world where a liberal form of government has superseded the 
original tyrannical form, I have not mentioned Turkey, Austria- 
Hungary and Germany, the three principal countries which are to- 
day waging war against democracy — the greatest war, in point of 
numbers and principles involved, which the world has ever known. 

That Masonic principles have not yet permeated the soul of the 
m.asses in Mohammedan Turkey and Roman Catholic Austria 
Hungary, is not to be wondered at; the reason is apparent why it 
should there take longer than in other countries. But their ally, 
Germany, has long been considered as one of the most enlightenea 
nations of the world. Among its people have been found scientists, 
philosophers, men of letters the equal of any. Its people are free 
to worship as they please, and are credited with the highest average 
education among the peoples of the world. 

^\Tiy, th'en, is Germany not only fighting this war against the 
peoples having and believing in a liberal form of government, but 
the instigator of and leader in the war? 

Tn my judgment, the answer to the question is found, primarily, 
in the form of government which obtains in the German Empire, 
and, secondarily, in the peculiar tastes, beliefs and mental charac- 
teristics of the members of the Hohenzollern family, of which 
Kaiser William II is the present head. 

The German empire is composed of what were once a number 
of independent Kingdoms, Duchies and States, now generally called 
States, each governed by a King or other hereditary ruler. The 
Kingdom of Prussia is one of these, and the Hohenzollern family 
has for centuries been its reigning Tiead. 

The Empire, consisting of these several so-called States, has 
what is called a constitutional form of government — ^that is, the 
conduct of its affairs is regulated and the powers of its ruler fixed 
by a constitution adopted in 1870, which also, in theory and only 
in theory, grants to the people a voice in the government. 

This constitution is a very ingenious document. It was 
adopted practically at the dictation of Prussia, and provides that 
he who is King of Prussia shall be the ruler of the Empire — the 
German Kaiser. It also provides for two legislative bodies corre- 
sponding in a faint, though very faint, degree to our Congress — 
there called the Bundesrath and Reichstag. The members of the 
Bundesrath, or upper house, are appointed by the reigning heads of 
the several states and kingdoms comprising the Empire. But the 
inarenuity of the practical working of this developes in the fact 
that, through the methods by which members are appointed, and 
the exceptional numbers adopted to Prussia, and the powers given 
the Prussian members in affairs concerning the army, the navy and 
taxation, the voice of Prussia dictates the action of the body. 



10 

Therefore, in such matters the voice of the Bundesrath is simpU 
the expression of the will of the King of Prussia — the German 
Kaiser. 

The other legislative body, the Reichstag, is composed of mem- 
bers who are elected by the people. This sounds like democracy — 
but it is not as encouraging as it sounds. For here, again. Prussia 
furnishes a great majority of the members (232 out of a total of 
397) and, what is more important, the Kaiser can at his will dis- 
solve the Reichstag and compel another election of members. If 
lie has an uninily Reichstag which will not yield to his dictates, he 
can dissolve it and compel another election and continue so doing 
until he secures a Reichstag where a majority will do his will and 
indorse measures passed by his Bundesrath. By these constitu- 
tional provisions the Kaisers autocratic power is limited in that 
he is refused the right to make laws by his word alone as he could 
were the powers of government vested in him and in. no other in- 
dividual or body. But by that most ingenious constitution of Prus- 
sian manufacture, the Kaiser has merely to conform to or put up 
with a little red tape, and his will is law. 

At the beginning of the present war we heard much from Ger- 
man sources as to how Germany had been attacked by France and 
Russia, and how Germany was forced into the war in self defense 
The reason for this is found in another provision of this remarkable 
constitution which gives the Kaiser the right to declare a war only 
in defense of the Empire, and which all authorities agree impliedly 
prohibits him from declaring an offensive war. Yet the constitu- 
tion fails to state what shall happen if he does declare a war of 
offense: and. as it is a fact that every German soldier and sailor is 
bound by an oath of allegiance, not to the Empire and not to the 
particular state from which he comes, but to the Kaiser personally, 
it is not difficult to see that the Kaiser, with the army and navy 
urder his absolute direction, can actually declare and prosecute a 
war of offense and conquest, without any serious consequences by 
reason of his overruling the provisions of the constitution. 

I have no doubt but that the argument that Germany was the 
country attacked in the war. was made by the German people in 
order to defend their constitution to themselves and to the outside 
world, and to justify their Kaiser's declaration of war. 

From these facts, it will be seen that Germany though assum- 
ing to be a so-called constitutional monarchy, is really an autocracy 
— an autocracy which, headed by an individual of decidedly auto- 
cratic tendencies, can be as pronounced an autocracy as ever 
existed. 

And what are the peculiar tastes and beliefs and mental char- 
acteristics of the members of the Hohenzollern family, of which the 
present Kaiser is the head? 



11 



In the first place, from the rulers of the original Kingdom of 
Prussia which contained approximately 24,000 square miles, they 
have extended their rul'e over what is now the Grerman Empire, an 
area approximating 209,000 square miles; and practically every 
square mile of that additional territory has been brought under 
the rule of the Prussian reigning family by force of arms or coer- 
cion. 

For several centuries past the heads of this house have been 
believers in the doctrine of the right of might, and have had the 
physical and mental attainments necessary to enforce that doctrine 
upon their own and neighboring peoples. 

This family also holds another belief, one of which much has 
been said and written, but one which I doubt is thoroughly appre- 
ciated by anyone who is not imbued with the spirit of democracy. 
'That is the belief that the Hohenzollern family rules by Divine 
right — ^that it has been especially chosen by the Almighty to rule 
over the people of the German Empire, and that the Almighty and 
the Kaiser, working together, can do no wrong. Many expressions 
by various German rulers can be found which prove such beliefs, 
but I will quote but two by the present Kaiser — ^William II. 

In a famous speech made by him in Bremen in 1897, the Kaiser 
said : 

"If we have been able to accomplish what has been accom- 
plished, it is due above all things to the fact that our house (the 
House of Hohenzollern,) possesses a tradition by virtue of which 
wo consider that we have been appointed by God to preserve and 
direct for their own welfare the people over whom he has given us 
power." 

Again, in a much commented upon speech at Konigsberg, in 
1910, he said: 

"It was upon this spot that my grandfather in his own right 
placed the crown upon his head, insisting once again that it was 
bestowed upon him by the grace of God alone, and not by parlia- 
ments and meetings and decisions of the people. He thus regarded 
himself as the chosen instrument of Heaven, and, as such, carried 
out his duties as a ruler and a lord. I consider myself such an in- 
strument of Heaven, and shall go my way without regard to the 
views and opinions of th-e day." 

With such a principle dogmatically asserted for centuries by 
one ruler after another, especially as that ruler has been able to 
defend, and has defended that principle with force of arms, is at any 
wonder that the German people themselves have become imbued 
with that belief? 

And that you may appreciate to what extent this monstrous be- 
lief has become the belief of the German people, listen to the ex- 
pressions of Germans of various callings. 



12 



A minister of the Gospel, Rev. Leliman, in a published sermon 
the text of which was "On the German God", says among other 
things — 

"If God is for us who can be against us? It is enough for us to 
be a part of God. 

"The German soul is the world's soul — God and Germany belong 
to one another. 

"We are beginning slowly, humbly and yet with a deep glad- 
ness, to divine God's intentions. It may sound proud, my friends, 
but we are conscious that it is also in humbleness we say it; the 
German soul is God's soul; it shall and will rule over mankind. 

"It is no foolish over-valuation of ourselves, no aggressive arro 
gance, no want of humility, when we more and more let Bismarck's 
faith prevail within us, that God has taken the German nation un- 
der his special care, or, in any case, has some special purpose in 
view for it. Germany is the center of God's plans for the world." 

One H. S. Chamberlain, born an Englishman but, having lived 
in Germany for many years, became a German citizen and imbued 
with all the irreligious arrogance which the Prussian belief has in- 
stilled into all Germans, in a book written by him, entitled "Politi- 
cal Ideals", says — 

"I want to make clear in what sense we may say, without ex- 
travagance or the least trace of self exaltation, Germany is chosen. 
Germany is chosen for her own good, and that of other nations, to 
to undertake their guidance. Providence has placed the appointed 
people, at the appointed moment, ready for the appointed task." 

In another work entitled "Confidence", the same author uses 
this language — 

"On this planet, as a result of milleniums of development, has 
it come to this, that Germany, and in a wider sense, Germanism, 
within and without the Empire has become an Instrument of God, 
an indispensable, irreplaceable instrument of God? This question 
T ask and answer it in the affirmative." 

One E. von Heyking, at one time a German consul in New York, 
in an article entitled "The Real England", says — 

"England is our worst enemy and we will fight her until we 
have overthrown her. So it may please our Great Ally who stands 
behind the German battalions, behind our ships and U-boats, and 
behind our blessed militarism." 

I have had before me expressions to the same effect from many 
different German writers and speakers. But these few suffice to 
show the wide spread effect of the belief of the House of Hohen- 
zollem that it rules by Divine right, in that the German people 
believes that it has an especial alliance with God. 

Such a belief as this is most dangerous, not only for the ones 



13 



possessing it, but for their neighbors. It would be most danger- 
ous belief for a man super-humanly fair, but it is infinitely more 
dangerous when held by one of the powerful nations of the world — 
a lusty, growing nation whose interests conflict with those of every 
other nation, with a great army, a great navy, great wealth and ar- 
rogant in power. 

Co-ordinate with this belief, making it still more dangerous, Is 
the German idea that peace is not a condition to be desired, unless 
it be through for^e of expediency, and that war is noble, sacred 
and to be desired as a necessary factor toward a higher develop- 
ment. 

This belief has also been taught the G-erman people for many 
years. It is the philosophy of those two German writers and 
thinkers, Treitschke and Neitzsche, of whom we have heard so 
much during the past twenty years or more, and it is the doctrine 
which one would expect to appeal to a military loving people. And, 
as it has the approval of their Prussian ruling house, it has become 
thoroughly implanted in the German mentality. 

Listen to what has been said upon the subject by Germans from 
many walks in life — 

The great von Moltke, warrior as he was, as long ago as 1880, 
wrote — 

"Perpetual peace is a dream, and it is not even a beautiful 
dream; war forms a part of the eternal order instituted by God. 
Without war humanity would sink into materialism." 

Treitschke. in his work entitled "Politics" says — 

"God above us will see to it that war shall always recur, as a 
drastic medicine for ailing liumanity. 

"The appeal to arms will be valid until the end of history, and 
therein lies the sacredness of war." 

Again, in the same work, he says — 

"It is only since the last war (1870) that a sounder theory has 
arisen of the State and its military power. War, therefore, will 
endure to the end of history, so long as there is a multiplicity of 
states." 

Neitz2he, in 1885, wrote^ — 

"The time for petty policies is past; the next century will bring 
the struggle for the dominion of the world — ^the compulsion to great 
politics." 

In his "War and Warriors," he writes — 

"Ye say it is the good cause which halloweth every war? I say 
unto you it is the good war which halloweth every cause." 

And again, in the same work — 

"Ye shall have peace as a means to new wars — and the short 
peace more than the long." 



14 



One Otto von Gottberg, the editor of a very popular and widely 
read magazine, called "Weekly Paper for the Youth of Germany," 
expresses himself in such paper — 

"Let us laugh with all our lungs at the old women in trousers 
who are afraid of war, and therefore complain that it is cruel and 
hideous. Xo, war is beautiful. Its august grandeur elevates the 
heart of man high above all that is commonplace and earthly." 

One Klaus Wagner, a prolific writer upon German politics and 
I olicies. in his work entitled "War," says — 

"Only over the bla^k gate of the cemetery can we read the words 
'Eternal peace for all paoples.' For peoples who live and strive, 
the only maxim and motto must be eternal war." 

These few quotations well indicate the trend of German thought 
for years past, but such thought is definitely summed up in the 
now famous book entitled "Germany and the next War," published 
in 1912 by General Bernhardi, then Chief of a Department in the 
great German General Staff. The very title of the work, "Germany 
and the next War," is suggestive of the Gennan thought that a war 
shouid come. The fact is taken for granted. 

These quotations from such work are but a few of many thou- 
sands which I could use. and I assure you that they but feebly ex- 
press the spirit of the entire work. He says — 

"The efforts directed toward the abolition of war must not only 
be termed foolish but absolutely immoral, and must be stigmatized 
as unworthy of the human race. 

"The duties and obligations of the German people cannot b^ 
fulfilled without drawing the sword. 

"Since almost every part of the globe is inhabited, new territory 
must, as a rule, be obtained at the cost of its possessors — that is to 
say, by conquest, which thus becomes a law of necessity. 

"In one way or another we must square our account with France 
if we wish for a free hand in our international policy. France mu=;t 
be so completely crushed that she can never again come across oui 
path. 

"If we wish to compete with them, (the other powers) a policy 
which our population and civilization both entitle and compel us to 
adopt, we must not hold back in the hard struggle for the supremacy 
of the world. 

"The brutal incidents inseparable from every war vanish com- 
pletely before the idealism of the main result. Strength, truth and 
honor come to the front and are brought into plaj^" 

In connection with the last quotation, "The brutal incidents in- 
separable from every war vanisii completely before the idealism of 
the main result." listen to what is said by one of the men whom this 
government of ours sent over to France to investigate stories and 
rumors of German brutalities. This man, a Minister of the Gospel 



15 

whQse name is known in almost every household, and respected 
wherever known, writes; 

"The cold catalog of German atrocities .... makes the most 
sickening page in history." 

Some of you older Brothers can look back to the time of the 
Indian uprising here in our own state. The outrages committed by 
the savages here and by the bloodthirsty Apaches in the south- 
tvest, are pages in history, and most terrible pages, too. But this 
Government official says: 

"The cold catalog of German atrocities .... makes the most 
sickening page in history .... leaves one nauseated, physically 
and mentally. .... 

"These atrocities were not committed in a mood of drunken- 
ness, nor in ian hour of anger, but were organized by a so-called 
German efficiency, and perpetrated on a deliberate, cold, precise, 
scientific policy of German frightfulness. 

"It is not simply that they looted factories, carried away ma- 
chinery, robbed houses, bombed every farmhouse and granary, left 
no plow or reaper, chopped down every pear tree and plum tree, 
with every grape vine, and poisoned all wells. The German-j 
slaughtered old men and matrons, mutilated captives in ways that 
can only be spoken of by men in whispers; violated little girls until 
they were dead .... and the worst atrocities cannot even be 
named." 

This Commissioner, securing his information as an official of 
our Government and for the purpose of an official report, recites 
specific instances of many such brutalities, among which I find one 
as to a child of two years, pierced through the body with a soldier's 
bayonet, and so carried away on the shoulder of the soldier; the 
cutting off of the hands and feet of a sixteen year old boy; the 
killing of a child three years of age, and nailing it to a door by its 
hands and feet: the cutting off of the breasts of women. 

Only this last week I met a man who told me that he himself 
had, in an eastern hospital, some time ago, seen and talked with 
two Red Cross nurses, who, while engaged upon their work of mercy 
with the Allies in Belgium, had been captured by Germans, who 
had cut off their hands 'at the wrists and, in that condition and 
pregnant by German soldiers, had been returned to the Allies and 
been sent back to this, their own country. 

And these are some of the "brutal incidents inseparable from 
every great war" which, according to this General Bernhardi, this 
member of the Kaiser's General Staff," vanish completely before the 
idealism of the main result." 

The present Kaiser's belief in the league between himself and 
his people and God, is proven by utterances which I have heretofore 
quoted. If it is necessary to prove, by his words, his belief in the 
right of might, in the doctrine of war, I quote from a printed pam- 



16 

phlet distributed by the Kaiser at a conference in Potsdam as far 
back as 1S92. In it he states that the ultimate goal of the Genaian 
people is the Germanization of all the world, and says — 

"From childhood I have been under the influence of five men, — 
Alexander, Julius Caesar, Theodoric Second, Frederick the Great, 
Napoleon. Each of these men dreamed a dream of world empire. 
They failed. I am dreaming a dream of the German world empire 
— and my mailed fist shall succeed." 

Can you not from these words analyze the character of the man 
who gave utterance to them? A vain man, or he would not have 
placed himself above such famous characters of history as those he 
named; a worshipper of militarv- power, or the five individuals un- 
Ger whose influence he believed himself to be would hardly have 
been five wno might well be considered as the military geniuses of 
all time; a man with an inordinate desire for power, or he would 
not confess to a dream of a German world empire; a man with 
every confidence in the strength of his military establishment, or 
he would not promise the fulfillment of his dream through his 
mailed fist. 

What a dream of power 1 What an ambition to express to a 
people already believing in his league with God Almighty, and al- 
ready made to believe in war as a thing to be welcomed, yes, de- 
sired. 

We. my Brothers. Americans that we are. cannot at this time 
help but feel that German people are our enemies. We, of 
America, are at war with them. We must destroy or we and our 
principles will be destroyed. Yet, considering the doctrines which 
for so long have been preached to that people — that God is with 
them, that their ruler is their ruler because God has made him so 
and wishes him to be so, — that war is grand and to be desired, and 
that its brutalities vanish entirely before the Idealism of the main 
result, that they are entitled to world dominion and that their arms 
can win it for them, we cannot altogether wonder that they believe 
in and act. as they have, upon these doctrines. I do not suggest 
this in extenuation of the acts of any German, but only to prove 
that we must, for the cause of this war and for the prevention of 
another, look behind and beyond the individual, yes. even behind 
the Kaiser, — to the condition in Germany which makes it possible 
for one man or one family to dominate an -entire people, — which 
makes it possible for one man to bring such a calamity upon the 
world. We must look to the system of government, — that auto- 
cracy masked as a constitutional monarchy, — that autocracy 
paraded before the world as a semi-democracy through the rep- 
resentation of the people in the Reichstag. In that system of 
.government which permits a vain, milita^'-mad, selfish seeker of 
world power, to dominate and autocratically rule a great people, is 



fcimd the thing which made this war possible, and the thing which, 
in the interest of the peace of the world, must be changed when 
the nations of the world sit in cotmcil to determine the future of 
Germany, And, Brothers, the future of Germany will be decided 
&^ a council of the world. And I thank God that our own country, 
the greatest democracy the world has ever known, can now hono:- 
ably occupy a position in that council. And it would, in my judg- 
ment, have been a misfortune for the world and especially for our 
Order, had this greatest of all wars, involTing the greatest of all 
principles — principles which we Masons have adopted as our prin- 
ciples — ^been brought to a termination at a time when our own 
great democrac. could not have honorably demanded and willingly 
been conceded a prominent part in determining the terms upon 
which the conflict should be settled, and the conditions which 
should obtain after the war. 

The lessons which we, in our Lodges are taught by our work- 
ing tools and through our lectures, were never designed to ani 
caimot now be considered in any limited or restricted sense. Our 
standard of and pledge to justice, for instance, must be considered 
in a large way and not merely with reference to disputes between 
individuals. It means that we shall stand for whatever is right 
and good and just. 

That remarkable document, our own revered Declaration of 
Independence from Great Britian. was merely a recital of injustice 
and wrongs suffered by the colonies at the hands of the mothe- 
country and a conclusion that, because thereof, we must alter the 
then existing system of government and be free and independent. 

Of the committee of five which drafted that great document, 
every man was a Mason: and of the fifty-five who finally signed it. 
it is believed that every man but one was a mason. 

That Declaration was one of the greatest protests against in- 
justice the world has ever known. — and, as such — and considering 
those who prepared and signed it. it must be esteemed as an ex- 
position of ^Masonic principles as applied to the condition then ex- 
isting. 

It would have been little short of a world calamity had condi- 
tions been such that representatives of our government, with their 
minds charged w^ith those principles "which are embodied in the 
Declaration of Independence through the work of those Brother 
Masons. Washington. Franklin. Adams. Jefferson. Livingston. Sher- 
man and a host of others, could not with absolute self respect and 
entire propriety, have taken a prominent part in demanding of 
Germany, and for poor Belgium and France, that which is Just. — 
and in insuring the rest of the world against conditions which ex- 
isted under a world of autocracies. 



18 



We Masons can have no sympathy with the principle of au 
tocratic government. We Masons can have no sympathy for any 
man who claims that God Almighty has given him the right to nilo 
a people, nor can we uphold a people which professes a belief that 
God is with it in preference to the rest of the world. We cannot 
meet upon the level, nor can we dwell together in unity with those 
holding any such beliefs. 

W'e can have no sympathy with a people believing that might 
is right and whose desire is to forcibly dominate the entire world 
For such beliefs are directly contrary to the Masonic teachings of 
the compass. 

We can have no sympathy with a people which believes and 
teaches that war is a beautiful thing. We can have no s^nnpathy 
with a people believing that the brutal incidents inseparable from 
every war vanish completely before the idealism of the main re- 
sult. 

We can have no sympathy with or for people who, when it is to 
their interest to do so-, violate a solemn treaty with other nations, 
and lightly refer to it as a mere scrap of paper. The lessons which 
we, as Masons, learn from the square cause us to view such action 
with abhorrence. 

W^e can have no sympathy for people who conduct a war in 
violation of all codes of civilized warfare, — who wreak their ven- 
geance upon women, children and non combatants, generally, — who 
do not respect the Red Cross, — who wantonly and unnecessarily 
wreck and ruin those magnificent monuments erected by your opera- 
tive brethren centuries ago. 

These things are not in accord with our Masonic principles, 
therefore we, as Masons, must oppose them. 

It is a matter of personal regret to me that our Blue Lodges, as 
^lasonic institutions, cannot or do not take a more prominent part 
in matters vital to our communities, or to our country. The Blue 
Lodge stands, upon principle, for everj'thing that is good and is 
opposed to everything which is bad; yet my personal belief is that, 
as an institution, it does all too little in a public way; that it should 
not be content merely to impress its principles upon its members 
and through them exert its influence for good, but that it should 
itself take its place as a direct and open advocate of its principles 
striving to directly impress them upon all the world. However, our 
conservatism is the result of centuries of conservatism, and no one 
can expect any such change as I hope for to be brought about in. 
any manner other than the most gradual. So, we cannot expect 
that Masonic institutions, as such, can take any prominent part in 
the conduct of the war or in the ad justment of conditions which must 
obtain when the war is over. But, as individual Masons, if we are 



19 



true Masons, if we believe in the lessons which are taught us in our 
Lodges, we, every man of us from the youngest Entered Apprentice 
in the northeast comer of the Lodge to the Master, must do every- 
thing in our power to support our country during the war and until 
it is brought to a successful conclusion. 

Our obligation to do this is two-fold. We are American citi- 
zens, and it is the duty of every citizen to stand solidly behind our 
government at Washington. But we are also Masons, and we arc 
under the additional obligation of defending our principles and our 
teachings. Therefore I say to you, Brothers, that we Masons of the 
United States are doubly obligated to uphold and fight for the 
principles urged by our government, and to annihilate that German 
system of government which is the primary cause of the war. 

Most of us are beyond the age when we would be permitted to 
actually bear arms for our country and our principles. As the 
situation is at present, that must be done by younger men. But the 
use of the rifle and the work in the trench is but one form of the 
lighting in this war. 

The man who supports the Red Cross, the man who furnishes 
the Government with his money, either through the purchase of the 
government's bonds or the payment of taxes, the man who con- 
tributes to the work of the Y. M. C. A., the man who eats less meat 
and less wheat and, in general, regulates his food supply according 
to the requests of the authorized government oflEiclal, the man who, 
if he be an employer or an employee, for the time being adjusts his 
grievances arising out of labor conditions so that a strike or a ces- 
sation of work is impossible, the man who produces the food and 
the materials necessary to the conduct of the war, — each of these 
is doing a share of the fighting just as surely as the man who is in 
the first line trenches in Belgium and in France. 

There is still another and a very practical way in which we 
Masons can support and be of service to our government and our 
country. 

There is still too much German sentiment among our people. 
There are still those whose sj'mpathies are with their fatherland 
rather than with this land where they have prospered and which 
they have chosen as their home in preference to the fatherland. 
'There are still those who. maliciously or because of selfish political 
leasons, criticize our government for entering into the war. There 
i.v still too much seditious talk. There are many who still spread 
German propaganda, the intended effect of which is to cause some 
measure of weakness in the spirit of some of our people. Along 
this line are the stories of the mismanagement of our soldier's 
camps, the immorality in the army, the ravages of disease, etc., the 
misappropriation of Ked Cross funds and supplies. More talk of 



20 



this kind is that to the effect that we are in the war because muni- 
tion makers want to keep busy, or that this is a Wall Street war. 
and that, now we are in the war, France and England are not ex- 
erting themselves to the utmost, and are shirking their part of the 
burden. 

If such stories are believed, they will naturally create in our 
minds some measure of dissatisfaction with the government's con- 
duct of the war. And German propaganda is calculated only to sow 
seeds of dissatisfaction in the minds of her opponents. 

We have doubtless made mistakes in grasping the new prob- 
lems which we have had to confront. When one considers the vast 
number of people in our country, suddenly called upon to meet in a 
practical and efficient manner conditions entirely new to them, is it 
any wonder that^ these people upon whom new duties are thrust are 
not immediately 100% efficient? Mistakes have been made and will 
continue to be made, but I know that our government is weeding 
out the incompetents, and will continue to weed them out. and, to, 
as rapidly as is possible render us as nearly 100% efficient as it Is 
humanly possibly for us to be. 

There are still those who, for selfish reasons or to help Ger 
many, talk about the unfairness of the draft. 

All these things, if not constituting actual sedition, or, the more 
inclusive term "espionage," as it is now called, come close to it. 

Let me give you a political definition of the crime of espionage, 
as we now know it. 

The United States Statutes provide "whoever, when the United 
States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or 
false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or suc- 
cess of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to 
promote the success of its enemies, and whoever, when the United 
States is at war, shall wilfully cause or attempt to cause insub- 
ordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty in the military or 
naval forces of the United States, or shall wilfully obstruct the 
recruiting or enlistment services of the United States" is guilty of 
espionage. 

Bearing this partial definition in mind, you will see that there 
are still too mianj^ seditious utterances — too much talk which ap- 
proaches sedition, or espionage. 

I am officiallj^ connected with one of the Local Boards in my 
own city, and I know whereof I speak. 

It is most vital to our government that this German propaganda 
and this seditious talk be suppressed. 

The government has its agents throughout the country, but 
they are all too few. And should every one of us Masons make it 
our individual business to do what we can do to trace this talk to 



21 



its source, or to investigate the channels through which it comes, 
and to report to the United States District Attorney, or to any oi 
his assistants, what we may hear of such talk and what we may 
know or learn of its source, thus giving him the benefit of what we 
have heard and learned, and putting him in a i>osition where he can 
take such action as he may see fit, we will be doing a real service 
to our country. 

We Masons must all get into this war and fight — fight for our 
country^ and our Masonic principles, in one way if not in anotliei . 
Let us realize that every assistance we give our government, every 
thing we do to help our soldiers, every contribution we make to the 
Red Cross, everything of which we deprive ourselves in order that 
our soldiers may be better supplied, everything which we can do to 
keep the wheels of industry and of commerce moving at a greater 
efficiency than ever before, everything which we can do to secure 
the punishment of the spreaders of this seditious talk and thus sup- 
press it, is not only giving to our government the support it de- 
serves from its citizens, but is fighting the battle in defense of the 
principles and teachings of our Order. Let us not be slackers in 
our obligations to our government or in our obligations to Masonry. 

This war must be won by our country and its allies. If Ger- 
man5^ triumphs, the theory of the Divine right of kings will be 
elevated to the position it held three and more centuries ago; the 
doctrine that might is right will be re-established as it was in the 
days when the world was ruled by the sword; the suggestion oi 
honor and justice among nations will be a thing to laugh at; any 
weaker people will be the natural prey of the stronger, and eveiy 
nation will have to be an armed camp, ready to defend itself upon 
a moment's notice. 

That the war be won by our country and its allies is as much 
to our interests as Masons as it is to our interests as loyal Ameri 
?ans for if it be lost. Masonry will have lost most of the material 
result of its teachings and the application of its principles. 

It will be won because it must be won. And, when the rep- 
resentatives of the nations sit in council to determine the terms o'' 
the settlement with Germany, while we Masons, as such, cannot 
take part in such conference, I pray that those who will dictate th*e 
terms of the adjustment may be either Masons or as staunch sup- 
porters and advocates of Masonic principles as were thos-e who 
dictated and signed our own Declaration of Independence, and as 
those, of whom our Brother LaFayette was one, who instilled into 
the French people the principles of Liberty, Equality and Justice. 

If they are, the House of Hohenzollern will no longer rule the 
German people; there will be none left to support the theory that 
mortal man can rule a people by virtue of a God given right to do 



22 



so, the German's form of government will be cliang'ed, so that no 
one man or no few men will longer have the power to bring conflict 
and hatred, grief and sorrow to a whole world; Masonic principles 
will triumph and, in the language of our President, "Democracy 
will be made safe for the world." 



PHI 

021 547 7940 * 



